𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

Back Again ☾ 6-02

I took a single step into the train car when everything went black. The entire car was enveloped in thick black smoke and I could not see a thing. Everyone started yelling and as a crazy first-year got up and started running around screaming, I was pushed and fell backward into a hard wall. Except it wasn't a wall. The person behind me grasped my arms and gently spun me around to face them. The darkness began to fade, and light filtered in through the windows.

"Aurora?" I blinked a few times, adjusting to the light again.

"Draco. I was coming to find you." I answered, looking up into his eyes. His face was pallid and gaunt, and there was evident sadness in his gaze as he looked down at me. He frowned before once again taking a seat across from Blaise. The Slytherin boy looked up from the top of his book, glanced between the two of us, and stood.

"I'll let you two chat, then." He said quietly before walking down the aisle between the tables. I gave him a thankful nod and took his seat across from Draco, who was absentmindedly looking out the window.

"Are you alright, Draco?" I put my hand over his, outstretched and folded on the table. He flinched a bit, and I frowned. "Draco."

"Fine." He said dismissively. My frown deepened. I sighed, then turned to look out the window with him. The sun was slightly peeking through the clouds and cast ethereal-looking rays upon the gloomy hills. The lakes dotting the countryside were few and far-between, but reflected the little light beautifully. Draco was almost gazing longingly. I tried to change the subject.

"Well, are you looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?" I asked tentatively. He frowned this time, looking back at his hands on the table.

"Father used to say it was a pathetic excuse for a school," Draco stated matter-of-factly. My eyebrows knitted together. "He'd encourage me to pitch myself off of the Astronomy Tower if I had to continue for another few years." My jaw dropped. This was completely unlike him! He would never say such a thing, and he'd never said anything so aggressively to me before. It was frightening, and quite frankly, infuriating.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped, scowling. He looked up to meet my gaze beneath lowered brows. He almost rolled his eyes, and raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say I don't think you'll see me wasting my time in Charms class next year." He spat at me. This snapped something inside of me, and I refused to put up with this new condescending, sarcastic, holier-than-thou personality he's decided to put on.

"What the hell is wrong with you Draco?" I slammed my hand on the table and his head snapped up once again. His eyes softened this time, as if in regret. I held his gaze with my own, full of fire. He put his hand on mine, gentler than he'd ever been before. As if he was afraid it would break in two. He looked down into his lap.

"Look, Aurora. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just-" He began to mumble, but was cut off by what I thought was shuffling on the storage rack above us. Both of our heads snapped up to look, and there was nothing there except for Draco's case. We stared for a few more seconds before turning back to each other. I thought for a moment I saw a flash of movement, but it could have been my eyes deceiving me. His gaze met mine disapprovingly. "Aurora, I have better things to do, now. I can't be throwing my life away learning more useless charms to stir soup faster. I have goals, and I want to do something with my life. I can't do that if Potter and his stupid friends go around messing with everything all the time. Every year, it's always something new." He scoffed, looking back to the window. My eyes widened, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. 

"Well, excuse me, Malfoy. However, I'm one of those stupid friends, and I can't believe you would ever say something like that." I stood from the table, silver lining my eyes, and his eyes whirled toward me. He opened his mouth and reached with his hand to say something, but I stepped out of his grip. Shaking my head as tears spilled down my face, I whirled and turned to find the changing car. If all of my friends were deciding to go completely bonkers, I'd just have to ride the rest of the way by myself.